What title did C.S. Lewis give his first science-fiction novel, published in 1938?

C.S. Lewis gave his first science-fiction novel the title Out of the Silent Planet, published in 1938.

The novel follows Elwin Ransom, a Cambridge academic who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mars, called Malacandra in the story. Lewis combines planetary adventure with philosophical and theological ideas, presenting a society that contrasts with the morally troubled Earth.

Out of the Silent Planet is the first book of Lewis’s Space Trilogy. The two later novels are Perelandra, published in 1943, and That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. The trilogy is sometimes called the Ransom Trilogy because Ransom is its central character.

The book was part of Lewis’s effort to write imaginative fiction in a genre he admired. Its publication also helped demonstrate that his literary interests extended beyond medieval studies, Christian apologetics, and children’s fantasy.